Grandma Jo's Christmas Party

Minute to Win It-Christmas Style

Our family party has had many themes throughout the years--this year it was Minute to Win It. We had several challenges. They were fun to participate in and even more fun to watch everyone else. We ALWAYS have fun together, no matter what!

Face the Cookie
Jingle in the Trunk
Ruldoph Nose
Kleenex Pull
Stack the Golf Balls
M & M munch
Elephant March
Balloon Air Blow
Christmas NUT Stack
Ping Pong Ball launch

We had great food and then of course PRESENTS! Grandma Jo got all the little kids a bike like toy. They had so much fun scooting those things around the gym at the Jr. High. There is also a ramp that they got flying down it. It was the perfect place to play on them. Bailey got Loopz. It is a game based on memory. Yep, you guessed it-she beats me every time.
We had a talent show. Bailey and Wade played Christmas songs on the piano. Bailey also played the recorder that we learned in school. Chase is pretty cute when he sings "I'm getting nuttin for Christmas" but he decided having everyone watch him was just too much.
The night ended with a very competitive basketball game. We have some great ball players in the family.
It was a GREAT party!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning came VERY early this year, in fact, I'm not sure we had a Christmas night where we slept at all. At 11:00 (yes p.m.) Bailey and Wade woke up and saw that Santa had indeed been to our house. Well they thought they had slept an entire night, not just an entire hour, and were extremely mad when I told them to go back to bed. Well they sat in their rooms and cried and tried to sleep for and every 10 minutes asked if it had been long enough. Finally I figured we were all awake so what the heck! At midnight we started rippin' open those presents. It is so much fun to see the excitement on those kids' faces. I loved every part of it. Bailey's favorite things were a puppy purse and a camel pack. Wade loved his lava lamp and his baseball bag. All Chase needed were his Mickey Mouse and his pillow pet. They all got a wii, and were so excited about that. It has been a pretty cool morning!

Christmas Eve-Hansen Party

It has been a tradition for 34 years to spend Christmas Eve in Elmo with my Grandma Hansen. When I was little, it was the most anticipated day of the year-even more so than Christmas Day. This party was always the most fun part of the holidays. We always had a talent show, Santa, leg wrestles, ham and chili, and of course a fun activity outside. We loved to ice skate on Grandpa's pond at the farm, or catch air while being pulled on a sled behind the truck (Kirk really shouldn't drive!), or sledding down Salt Lake Knoll. I always looked forward to the presents too. My grandma would always make something special for the girls. I have many handmade dolls that I treasure.

So this year was no exception. We went to Elmo for a Christmas Eve party. We ate chili and ham and homemade bread. We played fun games. Some differences this year were that instead of homemade presents, we had poopy "literally" white elephant gifts. And instead of playing in the snow (it was 50 degrees outside) we had to ice block down the hill instead. It was great fun to see everyone fly down the hill. There were some pretty awesome trains made. It felt like summer, but it was great weather for ice blocking.

Christmas Eve-Jeffs Party

This year for the party with the Jeffs family, we went Christmas caroling. Lee hooked up a wagon, and with all the great grand kids, it quickly was filled up. We enjoyed the ride around town singing songs and filling the town with Christmas spirit. It is fun to see all of my cousins and their families. We wish you a merry Christmas!

Snow Day!

It definitely looks like Christmas after this last snow storm. It snowed 18 inches in one day, and school closed on Wednesday. I couldn't get my kids to come inside. They LOVE to play in the snow. It was dark and late and James just kept pulling them around on the sleds out back. Chase is relieved that it snowed, because Santa can pull his sleigh much easier.

We also got to make snowmen. We made three: one was a cowgirl, one became a baseball player, and the third little one was a bow hunter.

We also have a friend with a great tubing hill. So we spent our snow day off of school sledding down the hill.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We had our first of many Christmas parties this weekend. It was the annual Huggard party.

We drove up the night before. It's a tradition to drive through the lights up north. We loved the lights at Thanksgiving Point but we loved the live reindeer even more. We watched the two reindeer and even got to pet them!

The Huggard party was with Grandpa Huggard and his family. It was fun to see everyone. We played some games, and then the highlight of the party showed up--SANTA! Wade wanted a pillow pet, Chase said he wanted some legos and Bailey wanted a purse. They all got a present and a bag of candy. They all had big smiles.

After the party, we went ice skating at the outdoor rink in Midway. It was SO MUCH FUN! The weather was absolutely perfect! We had fun doing tricks, racing, playing tag, and line dancing on the ice.

Bailey skated like a pro. She enjoyed skating on one leg.

Wade was also amazing. He was doing all kinds of tricks, including full spins and jumps. I was surprised at how easy skating was for him.

Chase was skating pretty well by the time we left. He could do it all by himself.

Decorating the Tree

MAKE EACH DAY YOUR OWN MASTERPIECE!

It's the little things that bring happiness-like decorating the Christmas tree. It was so fun to see the excitment of these three kids as they made our tree into their masterpiece.

How many people have to use 9 foot ladders to decorate the tree? James lives by the rule, "Don't short yourself in the land of the plenty!" That goes for our Christmas tree every year!

Posing for a picture with Santa!

The best gift ever, if being together!

Bailey made the formation, and Wade was the photgrapher!